Neutron-diffraction analysis of titanium carbide fibers and microtubes formed by self-propagating high temperature synthesis reaction

Neutron-diffraction analysis was carried out to study the relationship between the non-stoichiometric number of titanium carbide and its microstructural development during a self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) reaction. Titanium carbide microtubes with a hole of about 4 μm and 8 μm in diameter, fibers of less than 0.3 μm in diameter and fine powders were achieved through the SHS reaction. Neutron-diffraction analysis showed that the non-stoichiometric numbers of the titanium carbide tubes, fibers and powders were 0.68, 0.89 and 0.91, respectively. The microstructural observation and measurement of the reaction temperature revealed that the formation mechanism was related to a liquid–solid reaction including the diffusion process of carbon atoms into liquid titanium.